A Light in the Ruins

An American friend who once lived as a missionary in Ukraine told me a story about an encounter he had with a friendly atheist. This young woman was giving him a tour around the city of Odessa. As they walked from place to place, she began to open up, and at one point, she told him that believing in God was both ridiculous and irrational. How could any educated person believe that God existed? She was not belligerent; she just stated her belief as a proven fact. She indicated that she was doing fine without God in her life.

As they were talking, they came to a blighted intersection that was nothing more than a ruin left over from the devastation of World War II. The decaying and empty structures were fragmented shells. Rubble rather than trees created an impression of an arid wasteland. Even flowers and weeds seemed to avoid this desolate place.

It was at that moment that my missionary friend turned to the woman and gently observed: “Look around. If you want to know what the world looks like without God, here it is.” She gazed at the wretched scene and seemed to make the link between a war torn world and man’s banishment of God. Did she see the relationship between famine, disease and war and mankind’s fractured relationship with the God who created us and nurtured us? Can love even exist in such a place? My missionary friend believes he touched her by using that wretched picture as a way of introducing God back into her life. He did not make his point with words, nor with arguments or talking points. He just revealed the obvious and he let that do its work in her heart.

A Fleeting Moment in Time

Many years ago, during my first long hike on the Appalachian Trail in New Hampshire, I witnessed a fleeting moment of beauty that has never left me.

Late one day, after an easy ten miles, I began to search for a place to rest for the night. About a mile or so beyond a small town, I happened upon an empty cabin about fifty yards off the trail. Inside, the uninviting shelter was dark and cold. I dropped my gear and settled in and resigned myself to a night in the woods alone.

After a light dinner, I felt an urge to get away from the cold gloom of that inhospitable place, and so I left it to take a walk toward an open field on a hillside that was surrounded by thick woods. As I approached the field, the light from the declining sun drew contrasting shadows against the bright yellows and greens of the long, uncut grass. It was a picture of tranquility and I was glad to discover it.

As I stood in the midst of this natural still-life, I became aware of three deer grazing above me on the hillside. They didn’t notice me, and so I quietly gazed on that scene of solitary beauty. Time seemed to suspend itself: even the wind briefly stood still. Just as quickly, though, a soft breeze cut across the scene and the deer lifted their heads in unison, sensing an intruder. They hesitated a moment and then vanished into the shadows of the surrounding woods. Once again, I was alone in a once bright place that was now turning cold as the ghostly dusk transformed the waning light into varying shades of grey.

Now, all these years later, I remember that beautiful scene as if it were an image painted by God himself. I felt the warmth of God’s peace that day, but I had to turn back to the cold embrace of the solitary cabin. I did not know then that the journey ahead would often be long and hard. Yet, wherever life took me, I carried with me that image of beauty and peace as sustenance for those times when I would experience hunger and thirst.

A Cup of Morning Theology

Keeping it simple and relevant seems to be a trial for many in leadership roles within the church. Yes, the Bible is a huge complex book filled with stories, parables, revelations and prophecies that sometimes seem hard to grasp, especially when it comes to applying what we are reading to how we are living. Last night, though, I came upon a wonderful way to understand the meaning of the word “Grace.” We hear about the “Grace of God,” but do we get it? What is Grace? Well, here is one way to understand Grace in a deeper way:

G…God’s
R…Riches
A…At
C…Christ’s
E…Expense

Grace is a gift of love. Love originates with God. This truth is foundational to everything that proceeds from the Genesis story of creation. “We love because he first loved us.”(1John4:19) If we want to know what it means to live an abundant life, we need to reestablish that love connection with God. And here is how Paul tells us it can be done: “Be reconciled to God. God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.” (2Corinthians 5:20-21) God’s riches at Christ’s expense.